Tyson closes deal for Keystone Foods
Keystone Foods, a global food producer and major supplier of chicken to McDonald's, now belongs to Tyson Foods, officials said Friday.
Springdale-based Tyson and Brazil-based Marfrig Global issued statements of the completed acquisition Friday afternoon after antitrust approval of the deal from South Korean officials.
After months of deliberation, Tyson in August announced its plan to buy Keystone from Marfrig for $2.16 billion in cash. Since then, the food giants have been awaiting approval from antitrust regulators. Marfrig said it sold Keystone to help offset debt accrued from buying beef operations.
In remarks to reporters Friday, Tyson President and Chief Executive Officer Noel White said the completed deal will improve Tyson's value-added foods division and international market share. Keystone has international operations in Pacific Rim countries.
"We'll work to make the integration of Keystone as seamless as possible," White said.
-- Nathan Owens
Farm bureau's Veach re-elected as chief
Randy Veach of Manila on Friday was elected to an 11th term as president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau. Veach farms in the Lost Cane community in Mississippi County.
Delegates at the group's business meeting also re-elected Rich Hillman of Carlisle, a producer of rice, soybeans and wheat in Lonoke County, to his 11th term as vice president. The business session closed out the farm bureau's 84th annual convention, held this year in Hot Springs.
Seven board members were elected to two-year terms: Joe Christian of Jonesboro, Rusty Smith of Des Arc, Jeremy Miller of Huntsville, Dan Wright of Waldron, Tom Jones of Pottsville, Terry Dabbs of Stuttgart, and Caleb Plyler of Hope. Christian also was re-elected as secretary-treasurer.
The group has about 192,000 member-families.
-- Stephen Steed
Windstream loses 11%; index up 0.80
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 0.80 to 419.65 Friday.
ArcBest rose 2.4 percent in light trading while Windstream fell 11 percent on almost five times its average volume.
For the week, 13 stocks rose and two fell.
Dillard's had the best week, gaining 6.8 percent. Windstream fell 9.9 percent for the week.
Total volume for the index on Friday was 26.1 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 21 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 12/01/2018